Not Only the Loved Ones Need Saving
by zyphoracutie
Summary: J.J. goes missing and the B.A.U. team gets a very unusual case. Will they be able to find J.J. in time? JJ/Reid
1. Chapter 1

Not only the loved ones need saving.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot.

Gideon looked through the different files that were sitting on his desk. None of them actually had anything in common. Different ages, ethnicity and states, but Gideon couldn't seem to get the nagging feeling out of his head. There was something about these cases that made him want to look at them again. Maybe it was because of the complete lack of evidence that drew him. The only thing that these cases had in common was the fact that they were perfectly done. No witnesses, no forensic evidence and almost a complete lack of personality.

"Hey there." said Hotch, sticking his head in the doorway. Noticing all the files on Gideons desk he came all the way in. "You got something?"

"No. I don't know." said Gideon, rubbing his eyes.

"Which means?" asked Hotch. It was rare for Gideon to act like this.

"I was just going through my files of the cases I was ask to profile, the files that I hadn't really been able to construct a basic profile on based on the information given to me. After a couple of them I … I don't know… I started to get a nagging feeling. Like I was missing something."

"Go on." said Hotch, sitting in the chair across from Gideons desk, looking at the files.

"That's the thing. There's nothing there. In all ten cases, there's nothing. That is the only thing in common. There is absolutely no personality at the scenes of the crime."

"No states in common, no way to point out a geographical profile?"

"None. Different techniques in the killings. Stabbings, shootings, poisons' and staged suicides. In the four shootings, forensics stated that the gun was most likely a nine millimeter."

"Most likely?"

"They can't prove it because no bullets were ever found."

"That is odd."

"Plus there is no pattern in between victims. The earliest is 6 years ago. The next 6 month. After that 10 months."

"Isn't that a pattern?"

"That's what I thought. But then the next one is a year and a half. Then three months. Then six months. I don't know." said Gideon, letting out in exasperated sigh. "Maybe I'm making something out of nothing."

"Maybe." said Hotch, taking the files and flipping through them. "But if you're right. If these ten murders are related, then what about the others?"

"Others?"

"Yeah, this unsub obviously knows what he is doing."

"Unsub?"

"What I am saying is this guys technique is flawless. We both know that the ratio between the amount of cases we receive compared to the actual murders out there are extremely big. If we have ten on your desk, how many unsolved murders are out their by this unsub that hasn't been questioned?"

"And there is no pattern in the victims deaths because we are missing some victims?"

"Exactly."

"But Hotch, these are ten different states. I was asked to look over the information for a profile, not invited into the investigation. We can't spread our team out into ten different states and expect to make sense of everything. Who knows how long it will take."

"True. I just hate leaving it."

"I told you they leave you feeling like you're missing something."

"Yeah. Why don't you research these until JJ gives us something. If you find out anything let me know."

"I will."

Hotch left Gideon to pour over the files as he went into the bullpen, the cases still on his mind.

"You okay?" asked Morgan.

"Yeah, just thinking about something. Have we got anything yet?"

"No, JJ hasn't come in yet."

"She's late? She's never late." said Hotch in surprise.

"I know." Piped in Reid as he strolled up to Morgan and Hotch. "I've tried her phone number twice already and I'm not getting an answer."

"Her cell?" asked Hotch, getting concerned. The nagging feeling he had when he left Gideons office came back ten fold, but this had nothing to do with cases.

"No answer there either." said Reid.

"That's because its off." said Garcia, coming into the bullpen. "It was turned off at 9:07 thursday night and has been off ever since." Hotch gave Garcia a questioning look. "Don't look at me. Reid told me to check." Hotch gave a look to Reid who just shrugged.

"I'm worried. This is so not like JJ."

"Something's not right Hotch." said Morgan.

"We don't know that yet."

"What's wrong?" asked Gideon coming up on the group.

"JJ isn't here yet, we can't get her to answer her phone and her cell phone is turned off."

"Has anyone gone to her house yet?"

"No. But I'll go." volunteered Morgan.

"Me to!" said Reid.

"I'm her boss, I'll go. Someone needs to stay here just in case she comes in." said Hotch.

"I will." said Garcia. "That way I can keep an eye on her cell phone, to see if it gets turned on."

"Good. Reid, you and Prentiss stay here and call around." Reid opened his mouth the protest but Hotch silenced him with a look. "See when someone saw her last. We may be making something out of nothing."

"That is the second time that was said today." remarked Gideon. Hotch gave him a grim look. He didn't like the way this was going and with the way their last vacations went he didn't want to underestimate anything.

"I know. Morgan and you will come with me to JJ's apartment. Garcia, her address."

"5105 Biltmore Maine Street, about 15 miles from here. I can send it to your GPS."

"Okay, find out…" Hotch stopped what he was saying as Reid's telephone began to ring. He raced over to it, hoping it was JJ.

"JJ…oh sorry, I thought you were someone else…Quantico P.D?" Reid looked up at the group with a confused looked on his face, making the others come over to his desk. "A suicide…I understand, but we don't handle suicides here…my name…okay, give me the address…I'll be right there…Okay, bye." Reid hung up the phone and looked at everyone. "They found the body of a dead woman, apparent suicide."

"So?" asked Morgan confused. He figured JJ would be Reid's main concern.

"They found an envelope with my name, phone number and the BAU's address."

"Your name?" asked Hotch. "Did you know her?"

"No, the name doesn't ring a bell, but the address is a block away from where JJ lives, so can I hitch a ride with you guys?"

"Alright." said Hotch. "Prentiss, start looking for JJ, Garcia you too. Call if you hear anything."

"Okay." said the girls. Gideon, Hotch, Morgan and Reid all left the office and made their way to the address Reid had to go to. Pulling up, they saw multiple police cars, as well as a forensics team. Gideon and Hotch looked at each other before all four profilers climbed out. Reid walked up to the officer who looked to be in charge.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Spencer Reid. I got a call…"

"Dr. Reid, hi." said the officer holding out his hand. "I'm Detective Maxwell. I'm glad you could make it."

"Are there usually this many cop cars at a suicide scene?" asked Hotch.

"I'm sorry," apologized Reid. "This is my boss Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, Special Agent Dereck Morgan and Special Agent Gideon."

"Nice to meet you all. No, usually it doesn't, but after the body was found, my officer was looking around the house to see if someone else was there and found some stuff."

"Stuff?" asked Reid. "Like the envelope?"

"No the envelope was on the table next to the body. This stuff was upstairs in one of the bedrooms. Pictures and clippings. Things like that. Maybe you guys can take a look. I have a feeling this is more than just some random suicide." The four looked at each other, all still wanting to know what was happening to JJ.

"Well we do have some place to go. How about we take a glance at it and if we need we'll to come back once we are done with what we need to do?"

"Sounds good to me. Any help would be great." said Detective Maxwell. The four followed him into the house to the front room. There they saw the M.E. leaning over a body and the room had a slight stench to the air.

"How long has see been dead." asked Hotch. The M.E. looked up at them and then looked at Detective Maxwell for consent, who nodded.

"Based on the temperature in the house, I would say about three to four days." he said and then went back to the body.

"This is a well populated area, why wasn't the body found sooner?" asked Gideon.

"Well, from what we found out from the neighbors, she kept pretty much to herself. She went to work and then came home. No visitors or family."

"What about a son?" asked Reid.

"What makes you think she had a son?" asked Detective Maxwell.

"There is a picture of your victim and a boy, probably about seven years old, on the top shelf of the entertainment center." explained Morgan.

"No one we've talked to has said anything about a little boy coming to this apartment."

"Hmm. Do you mind if you go look at the room upstairs?" asked Gideon.

"Sure, right this way. Dr. Reid, your note." said Detective Maxwell, handing Reid an envelope before taking Gideon and Morgan upstairs.

"Still don't know her?" asked Hotch.

"I swear Hotch, I have never seen this woman." Reid ran his hand over the envelope before turning it over. As he was about to open it, Morgan came running down the stairs.

"Hotch, Reid, you need to come up here." before running back upstairs. Without hesitating, both Reid and Hotch ran upstairs right behind him. The minute they reached the door, they stopped dead in their tracks. One side of the room had about fifteen mug shots on them, followed by various pictures and clippings, like what the team does when they prepare profiles. And in the center of these was a picture of JJ.

"Hotch." said Gideon looking at him grimly. "These are my cases."

"What?" said Hotch, looking at him and them back at the wall. Sure enough, Hotch could see the pictures of the victims he had been looking at with Gideon earlier this morning.

"We were right. They were all connected and now JJ is a part of it." said Gideon.

So what do you think? Should I continue? Let me know if you see any mistakes!!


	2. Chapter 2

Not only the loved ones need saving.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot.

"What's going on?" asked Detective Maxwell, noticing how tense the agents had gotten.

"Detectve, we are going to have to take over this case." said Hotch.

"Why?"

"Because each of these pictures are of victims of murders from at least ten different states." explained Hotch.

"Okay. What else? I've seen FBI come in and take cases. You guys look a lot more worried." stated Detective Maxwell.

"We're worried." said Morgan. "Because that woman in the center is an agent on our team and she has been missing since Thursday." The detective looked at each of them for a moment before nodding his head.

"I understand." said Detective Maxwell. "I'll be any help that I can be, just tell me what to do."

"Right now we need to find out as much as we can about this woman…" Hotch paused as he realized they hadn't been told her name. "What's her name?"

"Rebecca Statler." supplied the detective.

"Alright. Find out everything you can about Rebecca Statler. Where did she work? When did she work? What other places did she visit?" informed Hotch.

"The neighbors said she worked at the local Wal-Mart. I will send out some officers to find out anything we can." Detective Maxwell replied, leaving the room. Hotch flipped open the phone and called Garcia.

"Did you find her?" The computer tech was to worried about her friend right now to answer as she usually would.

"Not exactly Garcia. Listen, I need you to run me a list of names and tell me what comes up, okay?"

"Okay, list away." said Garcia. Hotch read off the names of those whose faces appeared on the board, excluding JJ's. "Gotcha, I'm on it" Garcia said before she ended the call. Next, he called Emily.

"Prentiss."

"Emily, its Hotch. Have you found out anything yet?" he asked, though he was positive that he already knew the answer.

"Nothing." she answered.

"Hey, tell her to check the High Peak." Piped up Reid.

"The old loading area?" asked Morgan in confusion.

"Yeah, JJ liked to go there and unwind."

"Okay, Emily I need you over to 4225 Biltmore Main Street."

"The place that Reid got called to?" asked Emily confused.

"Yeah, I will explain everything when you get here. On your way over, call up High Peak, the old loading area. Reid said JJ liked to go their sometimes"

"Alright I'm on my way." said Emily as she hung up the phone. Hotch then walked over to Gideon as he studied the wall with all the photos and articles on it. "What are the odds that we would be talking about half of these cases today?"

"Slim, very slim." Replied Gideon.

"Hey guys take a look at this." said Morgan from across the room. The other three agents turned around to see what Morgan was talking about. On the opposite wall was a large map of the United States. Gideon, Hotch and Reid went to get a closer look.

"That is why I couldn't get a geological profile." said Gideon in understanding.

"She used darts?" said Emily, who had apparently just walked in at Gideon's statement. Reid walked up to the map and touched one of the eleven darts on the wall.

"Apparently so." he said glancing at her. "Which is very odd. Usually with victimology the unsub would know the victim, having some reason for picking them out. Or there are the cases when victims are in the wrong place a the wrong time. But picking out victims by darts?" At that time Morgan's phone rang.

"Talk to me baby girl."

"Anytime gorgeous." replied Garcia with a small smile in her voice. "Put me on speaker." Morgan pushed a button and held the phone away from his body so everyone could hear.

"What do you got?" asked Morgan.

"Well, all of the names you gave me are deceased. The first one was six years ago and the most recent was four months ago. But these cases are much…tamer…than what I usually see on these screen."

"What do you mean?" asked Emily

"Well, these victims were either shot, stabbed cleanly, suffocated or suicide. Not really messy at all." explained Garcia.

"Garcia, I am going to name off some locations and I want you to tell me if any of the names on that list are from them okay." said Hotch.

"Alright, shoot."

Hotch looked at one of the darts. "Pierre, South Dakota"

"Yeah, a Jaden Michelson."

"Cedar Rapids, Iowa."

"Jacob Harris."

"Tulsa, Oklahoma."

"Lucas Thompson."

"Scottsbluff, Nebraska."

"Cameron Wilson."

"Harrisburg, Pennsylvania."

"Zachary Jones."

"Ogden, Utah."

"Steven Campbell."

"Mobile, Alabama."

"Amelia Watson."

"Frankfort, Kentucky."

"Hannah Wood."

"Green Bay, Wisconsin."

"Jessica Butler."

"Tallahassee, Florida."

"Ryan Simmons."

Hotch paused for a minute, while he looked at the last dart. "Quantico, Virginia"

"I…I don't have anyone else." said Garcia, then suddenly she gasped. "JJ." The whole room was quiet as they let this sink in.

"She didn't pick the victims from the map, just were to find them." explained Gideon.

"Garcia, I need to know of any living relatives and their phone numbers, so that we can get in contact with them." said Hotch.

"Well, since I am the all knowing, I already did that. But there isn't anyone." said Garcia trying to act normal, but everyone could tell from her tone that she was worried.

"No one?" asked Reid in disbelief.

"Not a single one of your victims have a living relative, they were never reported missing by friends. Actually no friends were mentioned in any reports. From the looks of it, the only reason they realized any of them were gone at all was because they found the body."

"Did they all have jobs?" asked Gideon.

"Yeah, but only ones that paid minimum wage. Nothing career oriented."

"Alright Garcia, thanks." said Hotch.

"What are the odds that none of the victims have anyone to claim them?" asked Morgan.

"Not a whole lot." said Hotch looking around.

"This doesn't make sense." said Emily, who was walking around the room. "No motive behind where she kills. She doesn't know any of the victims. Plus the victims don't know anyone else, so she isn't trying to get back at anyone. What is the point?"

"That not only the loved ones get hurt." Whispered Reid. Emily, Hotch, Gideon and Morgan looked over to see the letter that the unsub had written open in Reid's hands.

Well here is the next part.I got so many people wanting more, that I figured I would break it into more chapter so that I can get some out faster. Tell me what you think


	3. Chapter 3

_Not only the loved ones need saving._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot._

_Dear Dr. Reid_

_Don't worry, you didn't know me. In actuality, the only reason you were chosen at all is because I believe your team would understand the best. Especially you. _

_I don't make any excuses for what I have done. It was wrong. I have no right to decide when someone lives and dies. But I couldn't let him die in vain. I tried to find ones that wouldn't be leaving someone behind._

_I need you and your team to ask yourself one question. Would you have ever figured out that I had done what I did if I hadn't killed myself? Always remember Dr. Spencer Reid, not only the loved ones need saving._

_I am sorry_

_Rebecca Statler_

Spencer Reid looked up at everyone after he finished reading the letter out loud.

"Who is this girl?" asked Emily in disbelief. "She doesn't follow any unsub we have every done before." Hotch just looked grim as he flipped open his phone to.

"Penelope Garcia's house of all knowledge, ask and ye shall receive."

"Garcia, I need you to find everything you can about Rebecca Statler." said Hotch.

"Alright…here we go. Rebecca Statler. 37 years old. No criminal history. Had a son about fourteen years ago, name is Caleb Statler."

"A thirteen year old boy doesn't live here and the only picture displayed is one of a seven year old." said Morgan.

"Garcia, what happened to the son?" asked Hotch. There was only the sound of Garcia's key board for a minute.

"He died. Almost seven years ago."

"Well that would be the stressor." commented Reid quietly.

"What happened to him?" asked Hotch.

"Uh, death was ruled accidental…wait a minute." the line got quiet for a minute. "That can't be right."

"What is it Mama?" asked Morgan.

"I know I am no profiler but this doesn't sound right. Caleb Statler was found in a storage unit. Police reports say that he accidentally locked himself in, consequently starving to death."

"Why doesn't it sound right?" asked Emily.

"Because two other boys were found with him. Just a minute… Alright, I have the photos from the crime scene. There was a lock on the outside of the storage unit, the type of lock that needs a key. Plus, there were three sets of empty plates and glasses."

"How did he lock himself in?" asked Emily.

"What else was in the storage unit?" asked Gideon.

"The only other thing was some blankets." replied Garcia.

"Who were the other children?" asked Hotch.

"Lets see…Joseph Bryant and Anthony Coleman. Both were orphans. The orphanage filed missing reports for both of them and the police department ruled it as runaways."

"Its not that uncommon for orphans to runaway. They believe that the outside world would be better for them." explained Reid.

"Ah hah. That's what I thought." said Garcia.

"What is it Garcia?" asked Hotch.

"The missing persons report was filed in March for Joseph Bryant and in October for Anthony Coleman. A year and a half before Rebecca Statler reported her son missing."

"Then how did all three end up in the storage unit?" asked Morgan.

"Exactly my point sweet checks." replied Garcia.

"Garcia, where did this happen?" asked Hotch.

"Um, Barton Lake, Virginia. A small town about a hour away. The lead on the case was a David Long."

"Alright thanks Garcia." Hotch hung up the phone and turned towards his team.

"Nothing about that report makes sense Hotch." replied Morgan.

"I know. I want you and Emily to drive there and find out what you can. Obviously this was the stressor and it may help us find JJ." instructed Hotch.

"So you think she is still alive?" asked Emily, the only one brave enough to ask, but it wasn't Hotch who answered.

"Yes." said Reid. "She wants us to find her. That is why she left the note, the evidence."

"Alright, we will call if we come up with something." said Morgan as they left the room.

"Lets take a look around the house, maybe we can come up with something." said Hotch.

Hotch, Reid and Gideon walked back down to the front room first. The ME had already removed the body and they were the only ones in the house. The front room looked like ever other house. Some DVD's and VHS's next to the T.V. The T.V. a flat screen, about 30 inches. The furniture wasn't extravagant, but comfortable. Reid started going through the drawer of the coffee table when Detective Maxwell came in.

"Well, not a lot of luck there. She worked at as an ICS associate at Wal-Mart, with straight 2-11 shifts. She usually got Monday and Tuesdays off. Apparently she did all of her shopping before or after work, because no one remembers seeing her in between. She didn't show up to her shift Thursday through Sunday so Management had assumed it was a 'No Call No Show' and that she quit." said Detective Maxwell.

"Wal-Mart has the highest hiring rate because so many associates quit.' said Reid, he flipped through the papers in the drawer. The detective just gave Reid an odd look before continuing.

"She never received any personal calls, was never late or absent. She came in, did her work and then went home. That's it. We haven't been able to track down anyone who she talked to repeatedly. The described her as quiet and shy. She worked there for four years. The corner convenience store says that she remembers our girl coming in around a quarter to eleven every night except Monday and Tuesday nights."

"What did she buy?" asked Gideon.

"Uh, the girl said she usually picked up some drinks, snacks and a paper. Once a week she would fill her car with gas also. Never talked to them though, just a small smile and a thanks." said Detective Maxwell, reading from his notebook. Gideon walked over to the kitchen that was connected to the front room. Each cabinet had food in it and the refrigerator was filled with the usual.

"She kept stocked so she wouldn't have to go out unless for work." said Gideon.

"But why stay in the house?" asked Reid looking around.

"Detective, was their another room in the house?" asked Hotch.

"Yeah, a guest room that looks like it was turned into an office of some sorts. Up the stairs to the left at the end of the hall." Reid, Hotch and Morgan made their way back up the stairs and passed the room they had been in previously. Reaching the door they walked in to find a room completely different from the rest of the house. On one of the four walls was a huge bookcase filled with books. The second wall had a bookcase filled with what appeared to be DVD's and CD's. On the second wall was a third book shelf, smaller than the other two, that were filled with three ring binders and a CD player setting on top. The fourth wall had a office desk with a computer at one end and a nineteen inch flat screen television on the other end.

"CSI the complete series, CSI: New York the complete series, CSI: Miami the complete series, Without a Trace the complete series. Psycological Thrillers and Suspense movies. Everything she would need to know about covering a crime is on theses shelves." state Gideon. "But look at this. Friends complete series, Full House complete series, Gilmore Girls complete series. Romantic comedies. I believe every different genre is on these shelves."

"Same with the books." stated Hotch as he pulled one down. "Fantasy novels, suspense novels, autobiographies, biographies. Apparently she isn't genre specific. Her collection is what I would suspect yours would look like." Hotch said to Reid.

"Actually, mine is much more focused. I have mostly American Literature or history books." stated Reid absently opening one of the binders and scanning it. "Hers is much more diverse. Hmm."

"What do you have, a journal?" asked Hotch coming over.

"I don't think so. No, it looks to be a story."

"What kind story?" asked Gideon.

"Its Fan fiction." said Reid as he put back the binder he had and took out another one.

"Fan fiction?" asked Hotch.

"Yeah, it's when fans of a certain piece of work, write their own stories based on the characters and/or the storyline of that work. It is said that fan fiction has been around since the early 17th century, but it has gotten more popular through the years. With the invention of the World Wide Web, it has increased significantly. If you type just Fan fiction into a web browser, you get over three million hits. It allows fans to have their favorite characters live out their fantasy. See this right here is a Harry Potter story." Gideon and Hotch scanned the other binders.

"CSI, Lioness Quartet, Wayfarer Redemption." Gideon read the titles off the labels that were on the spine of the binders.

"What about the ones without tags?" asked Hotch. Reid pulled out one blank one and scanned through it and then the another.

"They are stories also. I don't know why they aren't labeled." said Reid.

"It is her world." Hotch and Reid looked at Gideon as he glanced at the other binders. "She keeps herself detached from reality and creates her own. If we want to get inside her head, the only place we to tell us anything will be in these binders."

"Reid, start reading the stories. Maybe we'll run into some journals. Keep an eye out for anything that might give us a clue to what happened to JJ. Detective Maxwell, I need her computer to be taken to BAU headquarters. Tell them to take it directly to Penelope Garcia, she'll take it from there. Gideon, you and I will go through the house again and then help Reid with all the binders. As soon as we hear back from Morgan and Emily we'll decide what to do next." Instructed Hotch. Every one in the room immediately went to work.

JJ sat in the corner of the cement room she was in, drumming her fingers. She had woken up in this same room about four days ago. Well that was as close as she could figure it by looking at her watch come up with from looking at her watch. There had been food in the corner, bread and chips, and three gallons of water. There was still a little left, but not much. There had also been a small mattress along with two blankets. But she hadn't seen anyone since she had woken up.

When she had woken up, she had tried banging on the door to get out, but it wouldn't budge. There were no windows in the room, just extremely small vents in the ceiling. JJ knew she was small, but she could barely get her harm through those vents. After screaming for a hour she realized that no one could hear her.

She had gone almost a full day without touching the food in the corner, for fear of it being drugged or poisoned. But by the end of the night, she was so hungry and thirsty, she ventured over to it. That was when she saw the note laying next to it. All that was written on it was her name. With shaking fingers, she opened it.

_JJ,_

_I am sorry that this had to happened. But it was the only way to get my lesson across. When I read about Kansas City, I realized you understood. Not only the loved ones need saving. I wasn't enough to save my son. Will he be enough to save you?_

Well here it is. Next chapter should be Morgan and Emily. Is it still good or am losing track?


	4. Chapter 4

Not only the loved ones need saving.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot.

Morgan and Emily arrived at the Barton Lake Police Department and asked the receptionist for Detective Long. About five minutes later, a tall man with dirty blonde hair and a suit, walked up to them.

"Hello, I'm Detective Long." He said, holding out his hand to Morgan.

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Derek Morgan and this is Special Agent Emily Prentiss." introduced Morgan.

"FBI. To what do I owe the pleasure?" asked the Detective with a charming smile.

"Actually, we are with the Behavioral Analysis Unit and we just wanted to ask you some questions about Jessica Statler." stated Emily opening her notebook.

"This way is my office." He said with a nod towards a door on the right. "Jessica Statler? I haven't that name in years." remarked the Detective as he walked into the office and sat down behind his desk, Morgan and Emily sitting across from him.

"How many years would you say?" asked Morgan.

"Six, maybe seven. She had came here trying to get us to open her sons case back up."

"Her sons case was ruled accidental, wasn't it?" asked Emily.

"Yeah, it was."

"Then why was she trying to get it opened again?" asked Morgan.

"May I ask why you two are asking about her?" asked the Detective in suspicion.

"She recently committed suicide and there is a chance she was connected to some murders." explained Emily.

"Your kidding." said Detective Long, shaking his head in disbelief. "As to your question, she believed that her sons was a victim of a serial murder that had been caught three months prior. She said that she could prove it."

"Did she?" asked Emily.

"Did she what?" asked the Detective.

"Prove it. How was she going to prove it?" said Emily, disbelief already starting to show on her face.

"She claimed that the storage unit where she found the boys belonged to a relative?"

"Hold on." said Morgan, holding up his hand. "She found the bodies?"

"Yeah. Apparently she had found some obscure facts on the internet and went to the storage unit facility just out of town with a pair of lock cutters. She cut four locks off before she opened the one with the bodies on it. It's a good thing the owner of the storage complex didn't press charges. That was destruction of property and trespassing. "

"She found three dead boys!" replied Morgan in disbelief, his jaw starting to tighten.

"Which is the only reason why he didn't press charges." replied Detective Long, taking as if she had gotten off lucky.

"Who did the storage units belong to?" asked Emily, trying to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"Um.. His name was Patrick Nielson. He owned all four storage units."

"Was he ever questioned as to why the boys were found in his storage units?" asked Emily.

"We couldn't. He died a month before the Statler boy went missing."

"Why did Jessica Statler go after those particular storage units?" asked Morgan.

"She believed that Nicholas Foreman has something to do with her sons disappearance. She looked on the internet and learned that a relative, Patrick Nielson, rented storage units just out of town. Nielson was a cousin-in-law o his mothers, but Foreman hasn't had any contact with his fathers side of the family for years."

"Who was Nicholas Foreman" asked Emily.

"Nicholas Foreman was a man who was arrested for abducting a child. Luckily, we caught him at a road block, before he made it out of town." said Detective Long proudly.

"Who was the child?" asked Morgan.

"He was the son of the Mayor."

"How long did it take you to start looking for him?" asked Emily.

"We started immediately. Procedure."

"How long did it take you to start looking for Ms. Statler's son?" asked Emily.

"Well… I …" stumbled the detective. "We put word out that a child may be missing."

"May? She came and filed a report." stated Morgan.

"Maybe so, but the child was quiet, he was often walking home by himself lost in thought. We figured he had wandered off. He was a smart kid. Some believed he went looking for his father. There wasn't much more that we could do." defended Detective Long.

"What about road blocks?" asked Emily.

"By the time we were sure he was gone, it was to late for road blocks."

"How old was he?" asked Morgan.

"How old was who?" asked Detective Long, getting confused.

"The Mayors son. How old was he?" asked Morgan, enunciating each word of the last question.

"He was seven years old."

"What did he look like Detective?" asked Emily, slowly.

"I don't know, blonde hair, blue eyes, with a smaller build. Like any other seven year old I suppose." Morgan and Emily shared a look. "Why?" asked the detective.

"Caleb Statler was a seven year old, a blonde hair, and blue eye boy."

"So were the other two boys, when they went missing." stated Emily.

"Wait a minute. You're not honestly telling me that you believe her wild story!" exclaimed Detective Long.

"It doesn't sound all the that wild." stated Morgan. "Three boys go missing, same age and same type. You find a fourth boy, same age and type, being abducted and you catch the guy who was doing it. Didn't it ever cross your mind that the occurrences might all be related?"

"Hold on the boys didn't even know each other. They were from two completely different worlds."

"What about the plates and cups and blankets found with the boys?" asked Emily, irritated.

"I told you, it was an accident. The boys must have decided to camp there."

"You're kidding, right!" exclaimed Morgan, finally having heard enough.

"I do believe I have given you all the information that I can." said Detective Long, the charm all gone from him, standing up.

"I believe your right. Can you please direct us to your Chief of Police?" stated Emily as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"What…Why on earth do you want to see him?" asked the Detective.

"Well, since you obviously don't have the answers we are looking for, we need to find someone who does." stated Morgan, loving to see the man nervous. "If you don't show us we will just find it ourselves."

"Right…Come this way then." Detective Long replied stiffly, before walking them out of the room and to a office in the back corner. He knocked on the door and then waited for the muffled 'come in'.

"Chief, a Special Agent Morgan and a Special Agent Prentiss are here to see you concerning Jessica Statler." announced the Detective.

"Jessica Statler? The women who found the dead children seven years ago?" asked the Chief of Police, a balding man of medium height, shuffling through papers on his desk.

"Yes, sir."

"That was your case, you talk to them." He ordered without even looking up.

"I already have. Now they want to talk to you." answered the Detective looking straight ahead. The Chief raised his head and eyed Morgan and Emily.

"Fine, you are dismissed." He said with a wave of his hand before looking back down at his desk. Detective Long walked out shutting the door behind him and Emily took a seat in front of the desk while Morgan continued to stand. Finally, he stacked his papers and looked at them. "If you already talked to my detective, I don't know how much of a help I will be."

"We were just wondering how Detective long could rule Caleb Statler's death an accident when there were so many facts that didn't add up. Not to mention the similarities between the three missing boys found in the storage unit and the abduction of the Mayors son?" questioned Emily bluntly.

"Because I told him to." state the Chief of Police just as bluntly.

"What? Why?" asked Morgan in disbelief. The Chief of Police stood up and walked to his window, gazing out of it.

"This is a small town. The disappearance of the Statler boy had made papers, but not a lot of fuss was made. The mother and child stayed mostly to themselves, so the town didn't really know them. But when the Mayors son went missing, all hell broke loose. We were lucky to find him and his abductor. Foreman was put in jail and the town was satisfied. Then Jessica Statler found the boys and again, the town went crazy, thinking their was a murder about. It didn't help that Ms. Statler would come in her daily making outrageous claims."

"No one saw any connection between the two incidents?" asked Emily.

"Most of the details weren't let out to the public. All that was said was that three dead boys were found trapped in a storage unit. I felt it best for all concerned to just rule it an accident, which for all we know it very well could have been."

"Accidentally locked in with a lock that could only be locked from the outside. A unit linked to a man who had been caught abducting a child! Come on now Chief. You didn't get to the position you're at by being stupid!" said Morgan angrily.

"No, I didn't Agent Morgan. I did what I had to do. It was an election year. We couldn't have a serial killer in our town. It was best for everyone concerned for it to be an accident. As I told her then, and I will tell you now, there is no point in making a big issue of it. It was over. I told her to go home and grieve as she must, but under no circumstance was I going to open that case back up again. Now if that is all." stated the Chief of Police, clearly dismissing them. Emily just sat their for a couple seconds with her mouth open in disbelief, while Morgan was silently fuming. Finally she stood up and walked out the room, Morgan close behind her.

Morgan and Emily waited until they were on the way back to Quantico before calling Hotch about what they had learned.

"Hotch."

"Hey Hotch, it's Emily. We just finished talking to the Lead and the Chief of Police and we're on our way back now." informed Emily.

"We are still at Jessica Statler's house, so head here. Did you found out anything useful." he asked and Emily could tell he had put it to speaker.

"Very much, actually. This lady had a very good reason to be upset. Apparently, the lead detective never took any of Jessica's claims seriously. He already had his mind made up that they were just a couple of kids that had ran away. He believed it was all coincidence that they were found together, even after she brought him proof that a guy by the name of Nicholas Foreman, who had just been arrested for abduction of a seven year old boy, had access to the storage unit…"

"How did he have access?" asked Reid.

"The storage unit belonged to a cousin-in-law on his mothers side. No direct link, but he was the only family on his mothers side that he stayed in touch with."

"You said she found the proof?" asked Gideon.

"Yeah, that's how she found the bodies of the boys. She searched for anything that Foreman could possibly have access to. When she discovered the storage units, she went to look."

"How did she get in it?" asked Hotch.

"Lock cutter. The lead said that she cuts four locks without permission. The owner of the facility didn't press charges because the boys were found. Anyways, when the lead wouldn't listen to her, she went to the Chief of Police. We talked to him and he said he told her that the case was closed and he refused to open it. He believed the children needed to rest in peace. Said she should go home and grieve as she must, but under no circumstances would the case be reopened and there was no reason to make a big issue out of it."

"Big issue!" snarled Morgan in disgust, still upset. "Three children were most likely killed. That's a big deal to me." He paused for a second. "You know, I am starting to wonder who the real victim is." Right then, Morgan's cell phone rang.

"Talk to me sweet lips." answered Morgan.

"I looked up the M.E. repot like you asked. According to the report, all the victims had been dead for about two and a half months." answered Garcia.

"Two and a half… Honey, when was the unsub caught with the other boy?" asked Morgan.

"April 17th." answered Garcia.

"Why?" asked Emily, seeing the Morgan deep in thought. Suddenly Morgan slammed his free hand against the steering wheel. He gestured for the phone that Emily had and gave his to her.

"Hotch, the children died of starvation roughly two weeks after Foreman was caught. When they locked him up, he couldn't feed them. When they stopped searching, those boys were still alive."

Finished this chapter quickly, hopefully i didn't make to many mistakes.


	5. Chapter 5

Not only the loved ones need saving.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot.

After Morgan hung up with Hotch, both him and Emily stayed silent the rest of the way back to the crime scene. When they arrived, the B.A.U. team sat in the same room that Rebecca Statler seemed to prefer, trying to put a profile together.

"Usually we have to create a profile to catch the unsub, not find the victim. Especially not when we don't even have a unsub that is alive." remarked Emily.

"Profiling has been used to find victims quite frequently, but even then the unsub was usually alive or locked up when we did it." supplied Reid.

"It will be difficult to do without having any physical interaction with the unsub, but it's the only hope J.J. has so lets get started." said Hotch, looking at a file.

"Rebecca Statler. She was 28 years old, white female, with auburn hair. She had a non-commitment job which allowed free movement. She had no friends to speak of, no family, except for a seven year old son who was a possible murder victim. No mental or criminal history recorded." listed Morgan.

"She was secluded, obvious O.C.D. tendencies and her sons death was the obvious stressor, but this still seems to be a great deal different than our usual serial killer cases." remarked Emily.

"That is because she didn't do it for the usual reasons. She didn't do it for sexual gratification, a compulsion , recognition or revenge. This is about proving a point." explained Gideon.

"And since she wasn't getting any personal gratification from her killings, it will be harder to profile her. We'll have to go deeper than the usual basic profiles we do." informed Hotch. Suddenly Morgan's phone rang.

"Talk to me baby girl." he answered.

"Well my sweet lips, boss man asked me to try to find any connection between the victims and I may have found one, although, it isn't the usual connection we would find. Actually, I didn't see the connection myself until reading the reports taken after the victims were murdered."

"Garcia, what is it?" interrupted Hotch.

"Right, well all of our victims did not have any family to claim them. No friends to come to their funerals. Seven of the victims were cremated by the state."

"Absolutely no one to speak for them?" asked Emily.

"Nope, none were mentioned in the investigation reports either."

"Alright, thanks Garcia." dismissed Hotch.

"No problem." answered Garcia, ending the call.

"What are the odds of no one being close to the victims." asked Morgan.

"It wasn't a coincidence." said Gideon.

"She wants to prove a point, but she doesn't want to cause the same suffering that she went through." explained Reid.

"That has to take a lot of time, planning and research." stated Emily.

"She had her life planned so that no one would notice if she was gone. She allowed herself the time and was a highly organized individual." answered Hotch.

It was at that time that Detective Maxwell walked in. "We just found out that Rebecca Statler owns a storage unit just out of town. Paid in cash every month. The owner gave us a call when he heard about her death on the television." he reported.

"Where is it located?" asked Morgan, as he stood up.

"About 25 miles down the road."

"Alright, Morgan and Prentiss, come with me to check out the storage unit. Gideon and Reid, continue here." ordered Hotch, grabbing his stuff and the three agents followed Detective Maxwell out the door.

"He doesn't think she's there." stated Reid, looking at the door the other agents had just walked out of.

"No, he doesn't." stated Gideon, looking back down at the folder he had been looking at, worry etched on his forehead.

"To easy?" asked Reid.

"We know our unsub was extremely smart and organized. She wanted to teach a lesson. The storage unit would be to easy of a solution for this lesson to be taught. I have a feeling that we wont find J.J. until that happens." explained Gideon.

Reid finally looked away from the door that the other agents had left through, letting that little bubble of hope, that he had let rise against his better judgment, bust. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what they would find in the storage unit.

Hotch, Morgan, Prentiss and the local PD surrounded the front of the storage unit. One of the officers appeared with lock cutters and took off the lock on the unit and them threw open the door…


	6. Chapter 6

Not only the loved ones need saving.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot.

"She's not here." Hotch told Gideon over the phone.

"We knew she wouldn't be." remarked Gideon. Hotch stayed silent in agreement. "What did you find?"

"Apparently everything before her son died. His possessions, decorations probably from his room. We did find his birth certificate though. The father was a Nathaniel Rhys."

"Do we know anything on him yet?"

"Garcia already ran it. He was an orphan at age 3, spent the rest of time in foster homes. When he turned 18 he enlisted in the army. He was killed in action a month before Caleb Statler was born, but according to his records he was stationed here for about a week, right around the time that Rebecca Statler would have gotten pregnant."

"So basically another dead end." remarked Gideon.

"It seems so. We are heading back to the house now. Have you or Reid had any luck yet?"

"Not yet. We'll see you when you get here." answered Gideon.

It had been hours since the rest of the team had gotten back to the house, and there still had no idea where to start looking for J.J. They were all going through Rebecca Statler things, trying to figure something out. No one wanted to admit how much they didn't know, how much they still needed to know to find J.J.

"This is just so hopeless!" said Reid exasperated, apparently reaching his breaking point. He pushed the folder that he had been reading away and stood up, walking out of the room. Everyone looked at each other and Hotch stood up and followed him out of the room. He finally reached him in the backyard. Reid was leaning over the fence with his elbows resting on it and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Hotch didn't say anything. He knew that Reid was aware of his presence.

"It has been six days that J.J. has been missing. Six. The unsub has been dead for almost as long and all we can do is read her stories." Reid said at last.

"That's what she left us." stated Hotch.

"Fifty three stories. And only one was a journal that didn't tell us anything about where J.J. could be."

"The stories are the key. It was her escape." said Hotch, knowing that if he could just get Reid's mind in the right direction, they might be able to figure it out. Hotch hadn't forgotten about the letter that had been addressed to Reid. Apparently, Rebecca Statler believed that Reid was a key also.

"But they're all fantasies. Fantasy worlds, characters. With all our other unsubs, if they wrote stories it was filled with psychotic fantasies. WE could get an idea of what had triggered them, what they liked to do to their victims. We still have no idea what J.J. is going through right now. If she is even…" Reid trailed off, unable to say the thought vocally. "I can't lose her Hotch." he said honestly. The comment had surprised Hotch. Reid was the first to make comments, usually the most talkative. But it was extremely rare for him to reveal something so personal to Hotch. The others maybe, but not usually him.

"You wont." Hotch said simply.

"Can you promise that?" asked Reid, finally looking at him. Hotch could see the grief and despair in his eyes. That was something he had never seen in Reid. Not even when he had been strapped to a chair, drugged and tortured.

"You know I can't." he answered.

"Then don't say it." said Reid bluntly. They were silent for a few moments, both wrapped up in there own thoughts. Reid was right about the stories. Usually they came across journals that are based on people the unsub knew. But by what little that they had read and by what Reid had had told them about the stories, no one resembled any person in the unsubs life. Fantasy world, fantasy characters.

"Maybe we have been going about this the wrong way." said Reid abruptly, getting an idea.

"What do you mean?" asked Hotch, turning around and crossing his arms over his chest.

"We have been profiling the unsub and the people around her. What and how she writes. She has already done that. She is a logical and intellectual person. She profiled herself as a means to know what was going on with her."

"But profiling her hasn't gotten us anywhere."

"Exactly. We are profiling the wrong person. The fantasy world is where she lives. Everything is put there by her. That is her world not this one." Reid said, talking faster. "We have been looking at the stories, the situation as to how they would relate to her real life. Not the actual characters in the stories. Characters that she created, that she surrounded herself with, just like one selects who they want around as friends."

"You think we need to profile the characters?" asked Hotch, raising an eyebrow at the unconventional idea.

"Yes." said Reid simply.

"Then do it. You know what she has written better than anyone."

Reid stood there quietly and Hotch could tell that he had retreated into his mind, going through everything he had read.

"The main characters…they aren't the original main characters in the original works." he said finally.

"What do you mean?"

"For example, in her Harry Potter stories, a majority of them have Harry Potter as a secondary character. She usually writes about Ron or Ginny Weasley. Two characters vastly overlooked but important to the storyline in the originals."

"That makes sense. It mirrors her feelings about not paying attention to the others not usually seen as important." agreed Hotch, seeing where Reid might be getting at. "What else?"

"In her stories, she doesn't just suddenly make them important. In all of her stories, they go through something that changes them or makes them nee to learn or understand more. But the characters don't tell anyone about what they are doing."

"Why not?" asked Hotch.

"Self preservation, I think. Keep the image everyone has of them so they don't question what is going on. Eventually it is under extreme circumstances that a difference can be seen. They practice and learn in a private place, an area no one can interrupt. A retreat."

"She hid herself from the world, basically becoming invisible even at her work. Her stories were her retreat where no on could interrupt her." finished Hotch, following along finally.

"Except at the end. The climax of her stories end in the places where the main character was the most comfortable…" Reid paused, thinking. Suddenly his eyes got bright. "We need to call Garcia." he said before running into the house with Hotch on his heels.


	7. Chapter 7

Not only the loved ones need saving.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters, just the plot.

"What the…" said Morgan in surprise as Reid and Hotch entered the room suddenly. Reid just went to his phone that he had left on the table. Putting it on speaker, he dialed Garcia's number.

"Fountain of all knowledge, Penelope Garcia speaking." answered Garcia, although the spunk was gone from her voice.

"Garcia, I need you to pull up the crime scene photos of all the victims." said Reid quickly.

"Ok." said Garcia, noticing the urgency in Reid's voice. "Got them, what do you need."

"The places where they were found, they are completely isolated places, right?" asked Reid.

"Alley ways, parks, apartments. Pretty much." answered Garcia.

"Reid, man, we have already been through that when we tried to do victim logy." said Morgan.

"I know that. Garcia, look at the actual places where the bodies were found. Does it look like a place a place that someone would go repeatedly as a retreat to get away from everything?" asked Reid. Everyone was silent waiting for a response.

"Yes." she answered finally.

"Are you sure?" asked Hotch.

"I'm no profiler, but I know a sanctuary when I see it. The woods where the bodies were left were peaceful, not extremely trashy. Two out of three of them have a view of a lake or pond, which are always calming. The two apartments were in rural areas, little noise or disturbances. And the alleys and deserted areas actually have a surprisingly good view."

"Garcia, I need you to printout the building layouts of High Peak and have them sent to us as soon as possible." said Reid.

"On it." said Garcia, ending the call.

"What's going on?" asked Gideon.

"Reid came up with the idea to profile the characters the unsub wrote about." explained Hotch.

"What does that have to do with the victims. I thought any type of deaths rarely happened to the characters?" asked Emily.

"All of her stories end at the main characters retreat, where they are most comfortable." continued Hotch.

"The unsubs story ended with the stories she wrote." said Gideon in realization.

"And all the victims were left where they were most comfortable." added Morgan.

"Exactly." said Reid.

"But why the plans for High Peak?" asked Emily.

"That was J.J.'s retreat. I told you yesterday that that was where she went to unwind. She loved to watch the ocean and get lost in it. Forget about what she had been working on." said Reid.

"But I called and they hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary with her." explained Emily.

"Yes, but that place has numerous solid concrete rooms underneath that were used for storage." revealed Gideon.

"Okay, why the blue prints, why don't we go look right now." asked Morgan.

"J.J.'s first instinct would be to make as much noise as possible, the unsub would know that. She couldn't put her in any room that may allow her to be heard. She would have to find no windows and no way for J.J. to escape." explained Hotch. "There are three levels of storage areas. At least thirty on each level if not m ore. The blue prints could narrow our search drastically."

"Reid, are you sure man." asked Morgan.

"No, I'm not." answered Reid truthfully. "But it is the first thing that has made sense since we walked into this house."

Hotch called Detective Maxwell to let him know what was going on and the detective said he would be right over with some of his men. Everyone started getting g their things so they would be ready to leave. Once they walked outside to their cars, they saw Detective Maxwell's car pull up, along with a marked car right behind it. Detective Maxwell got out and walked up tot hem. The other officers walked up right behind him, one of them holding the blue prints. The prints were laid out on the hood of the car so that everyone could see.

"We can rule out the first level." said Gideon. "She would easily be heard there."

"And the east side has windows, which could allow escape. "She wouldn't put here there.' "Alright, so that leaves us the second and third stories on the west side." said Hotch.

"That is only about thirty rooms." said Detective Maxwell.

"This unsub has given us no reason to think there would be a booby-trap of any kind, but I would still be cautious." informed Emily

The group broke up and went to their separate cars. Hotch, Gideon and Reid got into one car and Emily and Morgan got into the other. The ten minute car ride seemed to take forever for the BAU team. Everyone knew that this was the last option that they had to find J.J. No one spoke and tension filled the two cars. Finally, they pulled up to High Peak and everyone got out of their vehicles.

"Morgan and Emily, go with Detective Maxwell and two of his men and cover the second floor. The rest with me to the third. Check all rooms, I don't want one skipped. We don't know if she'll be able to respond to our calls." instructed Hotch. They all broke into their assigned groups, lock cutters in hand. Reid headed to the third floor with Hotch, Gideon and the other two officers. They saw that the third floor forked into two different hallways.

"You two go to the right." Hotch directed the local P.D.'s. Reid took off to the left. The beginning of the hallway had only one door in it, which was unlocked and empty. At the end of the hallway was a door that they assumed to another part of the third floor. Reid pushed it open, making a loud clicking and creaking sound and then a bang as it hit the opposite wall, and found another hallway that curved to the right. Hotch and Gideon immediately took each side of the hallway checking the rooms, cutting locks as needed.

"J.J." hollered Reid, briskly walking down the hall. "J.J.!!! Hotch there's another door at the end. I'm going to go check out the next section." hollered Reid. Hotch nodded since he and Gideon we almost to the end already.

J.J. sat in her little room, absently looking into the corner where the food supply had been. She had finished off the last of the food yesterday, or what she assumed was yesterday. She was starting to feel hungry now. She couldn't help but wonder if that was part of the plan, leaving her here to starve to death.

The team had to know that she was missing by now. She was pretty sure it was the end of the weekend, and she was never late or absent from work without talking directly with Hotch. Slowly she lifted up the note the unsub had left her. Yes, she understood what the unsub wanted to prove, but she didn't have any idea as to what that had to do with her. J.J. sat there, reading the note repeatedly, even though she had clearly memorized every word. It was basically all their was to do in the little room, keeping her from going crazy.

"Click…Click."

J.J. jumped at the sound. "Hello." she said roughly.

"Creeeeak." J.J. knew that sounded like a door opening.

"Hello?" she said again and then heard a bang that sounded like something hitting the wall. "Oh, please." she said quietly to herself, getting up and walking to the door. J.J. did the first thing she could think of it…

Reid had just pushed the door open and looked back to see Hotch and Gideon quickly finishing up with the hall.

"Spence!!" Reid whipped his head around, hearing his name being called and both Gideon and Hotch stopped their search of the doors and headed in the direction of Reid.

"J.J." he yelled, starting to jog down the hallway, which seemed to be the longest one yet.

"Spence!!!" I'm here! I'm in here!" he heard her voice coming from a door at the end of the hall, followed by bangs. He broke into a sprint towards the door, while Hotch and Gideon ran to catch up.

"J.J.! I'm coming." he yelled. He finally found the door the banging was coming from. There was a padlock on the door, but it wasn't closed. Quickly he took it off the door as Hotch and Gideon reached him.

J.J. couldn't believe he was here, right outside the door. She heard some metal sliding against each other outside the door.

"J.J., we have the lock off, back away so we can push the door open." she heard Hotch say. J.J. backed to the other side of the room immediately.

"Okay its clear." she hollered. She saw the door start to open and she couldn't help but hold her breath, afraid that it was a dream. That is until she saw him standing on the other side when the door was fully open. Without even thinking about it, she ran straight to him and through himself into his arms.

"I knew you would come." she kept repeating, barely hearing Hotch radio to Morgan and Emily, telling them their location.


	8. Epilogue

Disclaimers - I don't own Criminal Minds

Sorry it took so long for me to update. My mind had wondered elsewhere and I had to find my way back.

J.J. had refused to go home once she was discharged. When asked where she wanted to go, she told them she wanted to go where she was most comfortable. And so the B.A.U. found themselves sitting around the table in the conference room. When they had arrived at the office. Garcia had nearly suffocated J.J. in a bear hug and then had escorted everyone to the conference room, where she had filled the table with pizza, breadsticks and drinks. Now, with everyone plates filled J.J. looked around the group, her family away from home, and took a deep breathe.

"Okay, tell me." she said. Everyone in the room seemed to glance at each other.

"J.J. are you sure you want to hear this?" asked Emily, sympathetically.

"Yes, I need to know. I need to understand." replied J.J. looking everyone in the eyes.

"Rebecca Statler was her name. It started with the death of her son. She was a single mom and her son went missing." started Emily. "The local police department didn't take it seriously though. They wrote it off as a runaway. There had been two previous children that had gone missing, but wrote those off as runaways also since they were from an orphanage."

"But there were similarities?" asked J.J.

"Same age, physical appearance, same town. But it was an election year and the chief didn't want the town to their there was a serial murder in town." explained Hotch. "Next, the mayors son went missing, who also matched the same description. This time they went into full swing looking for the boy."

"They found him and took his kidnapper into custody. When Rebecca went to them about the connections between the boys, he dismissed her theories."

"About three months after the arrest, Rebecca found a storage unit that had belonged to a distant relative to the kidnapper. She cut the locks and found the three dead bodies of the boys. The local PD still refused to announce a connection, saying the boys locked themselves in the storage unit. He told her to go home and grieve as she must, but the case would not be reopening." said Gideon.

"We found out from the autopsy reports that the boys had starved from starvation after the kidnapper was took into custody. Because he couldn't feed them and the local PD refused to look for them, they died." said Morgan, still upset about the revelation.

"That's horrible!" said J.J. quietly.

"Well, this event broke her. All she could think about was how three boys were pushed to the side because they didn't have a lot of people close to them. But then someone important, like the mayors sons, gets kidnapped and everyone goes crazy looking for it." explained Emily. "So she wanted to teach a lesson, not just to them, but to everyone. We found a map of the states, with darts in it, in her house. Apparently, she would throw a dart to find a location and then would go there to find the victim."

"Your kidding right?" asked J.J.

"No, we're not." said Gideon. "But she wouldn't just find any victim. She had a very specific victimology."

"She would find loners. People who didn't have friends or family. When the murders were investigated, there wasn't a friend or family member interviewed because they couldn't find any. Most didn't even have people come to claim the body." explained Morgan.

"Why?" asked J.J.

"Because, while she wanted to get the lesson across, she didn't want to cause the same pain she had gone through." explained Gideon.

"Other than that, all of her victims died different ways. Because of the map, their was no geographical profile, and she had basically nothing to build a personal profile on. She was a recluse, kept to herself. The only thing we found that helped us were her stories. She was completely immersed in writing fan fiction about her favorite stories. It was actually the only insight into her thoughts that we could get. Reid managed to profile those and that is how we were able to find you." said Morgan.

"Although, nothing about the stories were violent or morbid, which completely contradicted her actions in real life." explained Emily.

"So what does this have to do with me? She didn't kill me. Was she trying to recreate her sons death?" asked J.J.

"No, we don't believe she was. You clearly did not fit into her victimology. You have a very large amount of people that would miss you if something was to happen to you. I believe she fully intended for us to find you." remarked Gideon.

"Then why did she take me?"

"She knew that you, as well as this team, would pay attention to all the details of the case. You paid attention to the detective in Kansas city. I only went on your word to hear the case." said Hotch

"But how could she have known that it was me?"

"The detective on that case did an interview for the local paper and mentioned that if it wasn't for you , he didn't think the case would've been solved." explained Garcia, as she had seen the article while searching for any info on J.J. J.J. just nodded at the explanation.

"She wanted her story told, and she knew we would deliver the truth. She wanted to shoe the world that just because they don't have anyone therefore them doesn't mean that they don't deserve justice any less." explained Gideon.

"And she got her wish. I turned in the Chief of Police and the detective working on her sons case. Their conduct was appalling concerning the case. At the least, they will both be discharged from their positions, with the possibility of criminal charges being pressed." stated Hotch.

"I will also be writing a short manuscript detailing the things that she went through." stated Gideon. "Not to put aside what you went through J.J., but she was right that no one will know if they don't hear about it."

"She was also right about us not being able to solve all of the cases if she hadn't killed herself. Her crimes were perfect." stated Emily, referring to the note that was left for read.

"What do you mean?" asked J.J., because she had yet to see the note.

"We were pulled to her house because she left a note addressed to Reid. When they found the body, they found the note and called us. That is how we found out she had taken you." Explained Morgan.

"What did the note say?" asked J.J., curious. Without a word, everyone looked towards Reid, who was sitting next to J.J. and had stayed silent during the whole explanation to J.J. He reached into his messenger bad and pulled out the note before silently handing it to J.J. She opened it and read through it silently before folding it and setting it on the table. All this information was scrambling around in her brain as she tried to make sense of it. Despite the fact that she knew she was the victim here, that she knew she should hate the woman who had done this to her, she couldn't. She pitied this woman, the son she had lost and all the things she felt like she had to do to get some justice for her child. Something all mothers want.

"It's late, why don't we all try to go home and get some rest. We will be here again tomorrow." said Hotch, silently asking if she was comfortable enough to home. She nodded to him, thankful for his consideration. The rest of the team stood up and got their stuff together to leave. Each gave her a hug as they left, grateful that she was okay. Soon it was just her and Spencer left in the conference room about ready to leave. When she went to head for the door, he got up and walked over to her so he was standing directly in front of her.

"Hey J.J." he finally said.

"Yeah?" she asked looking at him.

"How did you know it was me? When I opened the door to the hallway you were in, I hadn't said anything yet, but you still called out my name." asked Spencer.

"You weren't the only one who got a note." she said simply before taking the folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handing it to her. He looked at her for a moment before opening the note and reading it.

"The minute I read that last line, I thought of you." said J.J. "I never doubted it." Spencer looked at her and hoped he wasn't misinterpreting anything because he slowly cupped the back of her head and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. J.J. happily returned the kiss.


End file.
